This is not a film I would sit through again. Apart from the great performances from Richard Harris (who is outstanding as Bull McCabe), a brooding supporting performance from a very fresh-faced Sean Bean and a dapper performance from Tom Berenger, I ultimately found this film to be disappointing.
The opening with McCabe and his dim son collecting seaweed after dumping a dead donkey into the ocean accompanied by beautiful Irish music and scenery was remarkable. McCabe has been farming a plot of lad on a rented field for years now, and the revelation that it is to be sold by the widow owner in a public auction to the highest bidder makes the local gossip and stirs up tension. When a dapper looking Irish American (Tom Berenger) arrives in the town looking to buy the field, tensions reach breaking point.
Unfortunately, the material is not handed all that well and this really plays second-fiddle between two great films that Jim Sheridan made ("My Left Foot" and "In the Name of the Father"). The murder of the American is not done all that well and looks very far-fetched. That was a major contention for me. It drags on a little towards the end but Richard Harris is really to be highly commended and deserved his Oscar nomination. The ending is shocking and nerve rattling, and what a great final scene it is. It is just a pity that the majority of the rest of the film does not live up to it.
The opening with McCabe and his dim son collecting seaweed after dumping a dead donkey into the ocean accompanied by beautiful Irish music and scenery was remarkable. McCabe has been farming a plot of lad on a rented field for years now, and the revelation that it is to be sold by the widow owner in a public auction to the highest bidder makes the local gossip and stirs up tension. When a dapper looking Irish American (Tom Berenger) arrives in the town looking to buy the field, tensions reach breaking point.
Unfortunately, the material is not handed all that well and this really plays second-fiddle between two great films that Jim Sheridan made ("My Left Foot" and "In the Name of the Father"). The murder of the American is not done all that well and looks very far-fetched. That was a major contention for me. It drags on a little towards the end but Richard Harris is really to be highly commended and deserved his Oscar nomination. The ending is shocking and nerve rattling, and what a great final scene it is. It is just a pity that the majority of the rest of the film does not live up to it.